'Q' govt changed Ring Road design for land mafia: CM

LAHORE During the four-day general discussion from Thursday till Sunday on provincial outlay 2010-11, one can reach a conclusion that a huge lot of Members Punjab Assembly remained disinterested in giving their budget briefs, digressed to other issues instead of focussing on the fiscal document and a majority did not prefer to speak, excluding even those who got themselves registered with the Speaker. On Sunday, Finance Minister Tanvir Ashraf Kaira could not deliver his concluding speech since only a handful of members were sitting at 6.25pm when the House was adjourned till Monday 10am while ministers absence would have added insult to the fact that quorum was not kept intact during all these days. The Opposition, like good bunch of boys and as decided in the business advisory committee meeting, did not point out the inquorate House ever though in the previous sessions it had pained the Treasury many a time. Even when Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif was sitting in the House, only 67 members were present. During the discussion, separate province comprising Southern Punjab remained the most favoured subject, while Malik Waris Kalo and Shaikh Alauddin were 'important persons to deal with by the Opposition. As usual again, the session started with 45-minute delay from of its scheduled time at 10am with Speaker Rana Muhammad Iqbal in the chair. Shahbaz Sharif, in response to remarks of Oppositions Dr Samia Amjad, told the Assembly that the PML-Q government obliged land mafia through changes in the actual design of the Lahore Ring Road. On a point of order, Shahbaz challenged the assertions of Dr Samia about the last governments achievements. I will bring complete facts and figures in the House, he promised, adding that it was an international practice that the Ring Roads were constructed on the outer boundaries of cities, but the Q-League government changed the Road design to pass it through the main city, which consequently raised the property rates manifolds, thus further eroding the buying power of the poor to have their own homes. He was of the view that those hell bent upon turning Southern Punjab into a burning issue, were now fast losing their strength because of the present democratic governments effective measures to end sense of deprivation among the people of this area. Earlier, Dr Samia observed that the Punjab government had no funds, which had reflected in the budget. The N-League-led government has been usurping Zakat funds for the poor and deserving for the last two years, she alleged, which disturbed the Treasury benches, especially since the CM was sitting in the House. Later, taking part in the debate, MMAs Haider Noor Khan Niazi criticised the Opposition, while asserting that now Q members were demanding Southern Punjab as a separate province, but during its tenure, the Q-League had spent the development budget in this part of Punjab on public meetings of Pervez Musharraf. He further added, The pervious govt had allocated Rs 62b for Southern Punjab, but 80 percent of the amount was misused and embezzled through massive corruption. Qs Abdullah Yousuf quizzed how the budget could be public-friendly when people of the province were committing suicide due to hunger and abject poverty. PPPs Sajida Mir pointed out that three million degree-holder youth were running from pillar to post for jobs. She suggested the government to ensure a uniform education system, besides promotion of the industrial sector to check unemployment. The government should give 40 million acres of land on lease to farmer women instead of veterinary graduates, she suggested. PML-Q Khalid Javed Asghar Ghural rejected that the budget as tax-free and people-friendly, mentioning that it was not good governance when the crime rate had increased by 30 percent, unemployment was on the rise and a double-standard education system was in vogue. He observed that construction of the Kala-bagh Dam was indispensable for the survival of Pakistan. Treasurys Arifa Khalid Pervez urged the House members not to press for division of the province because it was the time to get united to fight terrorism and extremism. She also stressed the need for industrialisation to create maximum jobs for the rapid development of the Punjab. About Sasti Roti, she opined that corruption was committed in the Scheme, and the government had reduced the number of tandoors from 13,980 to 10,660.